Photodynamic hemostatic silk fibroin film with photo-controllable modulation of macrophages for bacteria-infected wound healing

Abstract

Massive hemorrhage and chronic wounds caused by bacterial infections after trauma are significant challenges in clinical practice. An ideal hemostatic wound dressing should simultaneously manage bleeding and prevent bacterial infections and also hold excellent biocompatibility and bioactivities to successfully modulate immune microenvironments to promote wound healing. In this study, a silk fibroin-based light-responsive film was demonstrated to possess effective capacity of light-induced non-compressible hemostasis on liver hemorrhage and tail bleeding in vivo by binding with blood platelets to promote the clotting cascade. The blood loss of the rats was significantly less after C-MASiF films were applied, which were 1223.33 ± 347.9 mg (liver trauma) and 363.33 ± 60.28 mg (tail trimming). Importantly, the films exhibited photo-controllable modulation activity on macrophages through repeated near-infrared irradiation to regulate the immune microenvironment to enhance photodynamic antibacterial therapy. Moreover, the light-responsive silk fibroin film effectively promoted Staphylococcus aureus infected burn wound healing in vivo. The quantity of residual bacteria in the wound sites of mice in the C-MASiF films group (0.05 ± 0.0047 × 10⁸ CFU mL⁻¹) was considerably less than that in the control group (3.18 ± 0.75 × 10⁸ CFU mL⁻¹), and the wound area in the C-MASiF group (78.03% ± 4.12%) was considerably smaller than that in the control group (60.33% ± 8.81%) after 14 days. Overall, this light-responsive silk fibroin film can provide a powerful strategy for wound healing of burns.